# India Online Dispute Resolution
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/index.md

## Overview {#overview}

India Online Dispute Resolution (IODR) is a cardholder complaint and failed-transaction dispute management API for card issuers and acquirers in India --- create, track, and update disputes.

IODR is Mastercard's implementation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) requirement for payment system operators to provide an online dispute resolution facility for cardholder grievance redressal. It resolves customer grievances by allowing complaints to be recorded and tracked, brings uniformity to the processing of failed transactions, and builds customer confidence in card payments.

Complaints can be raised for transactions made with a Mastercard credit, debit, or prepaid card. Issuers and acquirers receive notifications for every new complaint and can review and update its status until the dispute is resolved.
Note: For more information, visit the [IODR Product Landing Page](https://developer.mastercard.com/product/india-online-dispute-resolution/).

## How It Works {#how-it-works}

![howitwork diagram](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/india-online-dispute-resolution/uploads/howitwork.png)

The numbered stages in the diagram map to the IODR dispute flow as follows:

1. The cardholder identifies an unrecognized or failed transaction and contacts the issuer to verify the situation.
2. The issuer reviews the cardholder's complaint and, after a preliminary analysis of the transaction, creates a dispute (`POST /complaints`).
3. The issuer validates the dispute by retrieving the underlying transaction details (`POST /transactions/details`) and its latest status (`GET /transactions/status`) from IODR.
4. IODR transmits the dispute to the acquirer, who validates the case and returns a response through IODR. The issuer updates the complaint as the dispute progresses (`PUT /complaints`).
5. The issuer tracks the outcome of the dispute and presents the result to the cardholder.

* **Cardholder**: The person who owns the card and raises a dispute for a failed or unrecognized transaction.
* **Issuer**: The bank that issued the card and manages the dispute process with IODR.
* **IODR**: An API that facilitates dispute communication between issuers and acquirers.
* **Acquirer**: The bank that processes merchant transactions and responds to disputes.
* Captures disputes and grievances from failed transactions in a single, trackable system.
* Enables issuers and acquirers to track and update disputes programmatically.
* Supports a time-bound resolution workflow that concludes in the cardholder's favor if not resolved in time.
* For a detailed view, explore our [Use Cases](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/use-cases/index.md) section.

## Good to Know {#good-to-know}

> * **Onboarding Information** : Onboarding starts by creating an account on [Mastercard Developers](https://developer.mastercard.com/) and generating Sandbox project credentials. Production access is requested later for the same project. For the technical steps, see the [Customer Onboarding Guide](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/onboarding-guide/index.md). For contract and SLA details, see the [Onboarding Checklist](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/onboarding-checklist/index.md).
> * **Testing Information** : We have an [Open Sandbox](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/api-basics/index.md) that you can use to test Sandbox calls. The Sandbox uses a [Mock Data Warehouse (DWH)](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/mock-data-warehouse/index.md) that returns randomized success and failure responses so you can validate error handling.
> * **Technical Information** : This is a REST API that uses **OAuth 1.0a** authentication, **TLS/SSL** transport security, and **JWE** payload encryption. See [API Basics](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/api-basics/index.md) for full details.
> * **Region Availability/Border Control**: IODR is available for the India region only.
Tip: If you do not have a Mastercard representative, seek assistance from our [Support page](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/support/index.md#get-help).

## Next Steps {#next-steps}

Now that you have an understanding of what the service does, you can proceed to the [Quick Start Guide](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/quick-start-guide/index.md) to quickly get started, or to the [API Basics](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/api-basics/index.md) section for details on authentication and encryption. When you are ready to build a client and go live, follow the [Customer Onboarding Guide](https://developer.mastercard.com/india-online-dispute-resolution/documentation/onboarding-guide/index.md).